What ensues is a storyline that is noticeably more violent than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Ralph Wood, professor of Lewis and Tolkien literature at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, noticed the difference between the two movies. He felt the film lacked the magical quality that distinguished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
“I thought it was well done considering their basic intention was to create an action flick with a lot of excitement and a lot of battle scenes,” said Wood, whose many books include The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth.
“The first battle was entirely invented,” pointed out Wood. “It’s clear the filmmaker knew the teenage audience.”
Wood explained that the book had only one battle, and it lasted a minute. He mentioned that Lewis never went into the gory details of the battle.
“Lewis wants to avoid cheap violence,” said Wood. “He didn’t want to distract from his main point.”
In the novel Prince Caspian, Lewis attempts to convey a vision of pride that can corrupt even the best of intentions. Pride can weave its way slowly into our lives unnoticed until it rears its ugly head when we least expect it. Even the hero, Peter, can have a fatal flaw of pride.
Wood also pointed out the emerging character and strength of Edmund was portrayed well in the film. In the first movie, Edmund starts off under the influence of evil but eventually becomes a hero. Wood said that is Lewis’ way of showing a need for divine grace that can redeem evildoers.
“Overall, I’m grateful for the creation of a new generation of Lewis readers,” Wood said. “But those who haven’t read the book, I fear, will draw the conclusion that the movie is saying, ‘If we Christians go to battle we can wipe them all out.’ With a culture so obsessed with violence one could go to the movie and walk away with the endorsement of violence.”
Another scholar gave his thoughts about the adventure film Prince Caspian.
“I think the film, in some ways, was better than the first,” said Michael Ward, a writer, speaker, Anglican clergyman and Cambridge, England, native. He has recently released a book titled Planet Narnia in which he discusses Lewis' use of the seven medieval heavens.
Ward suggested that Lewis alludes to the heavenly realm of Mars, the god of war, in Prince Caspian. This explains the frequency of battles in the novel.
“The film got this part well, a little too well,” he said. “There was a great deal of violence and extra battle scenes than the book. And they also downplayed the trees’ role.”
In Narnia the trees are alive and move when Aslan the lion bids them to. Aslan symbolizes Jesus Christ — a divine character who creates, sustains and redeems the world of Narnia. As he works to right wrongs, he triumphs over the tyranny of the wicked king, Miraz.
According to Ward, Mars was also known as a deity of the forest [Mars Silvanus]. The month of March, when the trees come back to life after winter, is named for Mars. Ward pointed out all the events of Prince Caspian took place in the Narnian month of “Greenroof,” the only month ever named in the Lewis novels.
“In the book, these two strands [war and trees] are carefully balanced,” he said, “though in the film 90 percent of it was battle scenes and 10 percent were the trees. The film gave a different feel than the book.”
Ward described another difference between the two novels. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, there is a more distinct connection with the gospel. But in Prince Caspian there are less obvious ties.
“My suspicion is that most Christian viewers see the Christian messages and that some non-Christians do. And those who don't see these messages (both the Christians and the non-Christians) nonetheless may imbibe them at an imaginative level,” Ward said.
With the grand success of the first film — $65.6 million in ticket sales — it’s surprising that Prince Caspian only brought in $56.6 million. The next movie in line, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is set to be released in May 2010.
“I have to admit, the first movie was better than the second,” said Wood, “I hope this isn’t the mark of a downward trend.”
He likened it to a similar slump in The Lord of the Rings movies. In Wood’s opinion the first was better than the second and third movies.
“There is less room for inserting battles in this third [Narnia] story which seem to have dominated the first two adaptations so unduly,” Ward said, “Of course, that doesn't mean they won't try! But The Dawn Treader has such a mystical atmosphere that I feel that even the most tone-deaf adapter can't fail to sense it.”
However, Ward mentioned that there will be a different director for this third film — not Andrew Adamson this time but Michael Apted.
“Michael Apted is a more mature filmmaker than Adamson and has done good work with Amazing Grace…. His brother is an Anglican clergyman. Of course, none of this means that Apted will necessarily understand The Dawn Treader intimately, but it does perhaps bode well.”
In the third movie, Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace go across the seas with King Caspian on his ship, The Dawn Treader. They encounter mermaids, dwarves, and even dragons. Audiences may find the movie more venturesome than the second.
If the screenwriters remain faithful to the book, audiences will have a lot to look forward to, Ward suggested.
Of the final three chapters, Ward said simply: “Heart-breakingly beautiful. A taste of heaven.”
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